Yarn crimping apparatus



1965 w. H. HILLS ETAL 3,197,837

YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 17. 1960 INVENTORS WILLIAM HL'HILLS DON E. FISHER ATTORNE United States Patent 3,197,337 YARN ZCRIMPING APPARATUS William H. Hills and Don E. Fisher, both of Pensacola, Fla, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Monsanto Company, a corporation of Delaware Original application Nov. 17, 1969, Ser. No. 70,038, now Patent No. 3,116,531, dated Jan. 7, 1964. Divided and this appiication Jan. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 335,464 4 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) This is a division of application Serial No. 70,03 8, filed November 17, 1960, now US. Patent No. 3,116,531, by William H. Hills and Don Fisher for Yarn Crimping Apparatus.

This invention relates to yarn crimping apparatus and more particularly to yarn crimping apparatus having yieldably mounted crimping rolls.

One of the disadvantages of yarn crimpers of the gear type used in the past is that the crimping gears are some times jammed by the buildup of yarn thereon. The yarn buildup or accumulation might be caused by a defect or a :break in the yarn, the yarn then wrapping around and accumulating on one of the rotating crimping gears. Yieldable crimping gears have been used in the past but they are subject to much damage when separated and then reunited during the crimping operation. The reason for this is that these gears almost always got out of mesh when separated by a yarn buildup. Then, upon clearance of the buildup, the moving gears come together out of mesh. This results in considerable damage to the teeth of the gears. 'Even a small amount of damage necessitates a gear replacement, since roughened gear teeth will damage the yarn. With this problem in mind, one of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel and improved crimping apparatus.

A further object of this invention is to provide a yarn crimper having a y-ieldably mounted crimping gear.

Another object of this invention is to provide a yarn crimping apparatus having a pair of separable crimping gears which remain in operating alignment even when separated.

A further object of this invention is to provide a yarn crimping apparatus having a pair of crimping gears, one of which is pivotally mounted about an axis radially and longitudinally beyond the gear.

An apparatus illustrating the principles of the invent1on may include a pair of yarn crimping .gears, a first of which is driven through a shaft and the second of which is mounted on a yoke which is pivotally supported. The gears have attached thereto spur gears which serve as a driving connection from the first crimping gear to the second. The pivot point of the yoke is at a location about 45 from the center of the second crimping gear, with the spur gears being adjacent to the pivot point. The yoke is resiliently urged toward the first gear. Because of this construction, a yarn accumulation on the Ifirst gear moves the yoke and separates the crimping gears while leaving the spur gears in mesh. Thus, when the yarn buildup clears the crimping gears, these gears wlll reunite without engaging each other.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when the following detailed description llS read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which the single figure is a side view of one embodiment of the invention with portions broken away to show the yoke moving elements.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, a frame 51 is shown supporting a first yarn crimping gear 52 which is driven in a well known manner through a shaft 50. The gear 52. cooperates with a second crimping gear 55 which is rotatably mounted on a shaft 58 attached to a yoke 57.

Patented Aug. 3, 1965 'ice The con-figuration of the teeth on the crimping gears 52 and 55 is such that heated thermoplastic yarn passing between these gears has a crimp imparted thereto by the teeth. These teeth are not suited for driving engagement with another gear. In fact, it is very important that the gears 52 and 55 do not touch-each other, since engagement of these gears will damage the teeth.

Since the teeth on the first crimping gear 5-2 are not suited for driving the second gear 55, ordinary spur gears 61 and 6 2, meshed with each other, are secured to but spaced by grooves 65 and 66 from the crimping gears 52 and 55, respectively, so that the second crimping gear '55 is driven from the shaft 50 through the spur gears 61 and 62. Thus, the crimping gears 52 and 5-5 are driven without touching each other.

To provide for separation of the crimping gears 52 and 55 upon a yarn buildup, the yoke 57 is pivotally mounted on a pin 60 which is secured to the frame 51, at a point both longitudinally and radially beyond the second crimping gear 55. In other words, the yoke 57 is channelshaped (i.e., shaped like a cross section of a structural channel) and is pivoted at its corner to the frame 51.

It can be seen that, upon initial movement of the yoke 57, the second crimping gear 55 will move away from the .tfirst crimping gear at about a 45 angle relative to the axis of the drive shaft 50, while the spur gear 61 will move in a direction almost parallel to the axis of the drive shaft 56. Thus, the crimping gears 52 and 55 may be completely separated while the spur gears 61 and 62 remain in mesh. .Since the spur gears 61 and 62 remain in mesh, the crimping gears 52 and 55 cannot get out of mesh and dam-age each other upon reuniting after clear- :ance of the fault which has caused the separation of these gears.

The yarn 56 to be crimped passes around a heated draw pin (not shown) of a well known type where the yarn is heated to a temperature suit-able for crimping. After passing over the draw pin the yarn 56 takes several turns or wraps around the first crimping gear 52 and an idle roll 84 mounted on the frame 521 as shown. The yarn 56 then leaves the crimping apparatus and is taken up by a conventional take-up mechanism (not shown).

To urge the yoke 57 toward operative position, a spring 70 and .a pair of links 71 and 72 are used. The link 71 is pivotally attached to the frame 51 by a pin 73 while the link 72 is pivotally attached to the yoke 57 as shown by a pin 74. A pin 78 serves to connect the ends of the links 71 and 72. The tension spring 70 is connected between the pin 78 and a pin 79 secured to the frame 51.

From the drawing it will be obvious that the spring 70 urges the pin 78 toward the fixed pin 79 to urge the yoke "57 clockwise toward its operative position. To adjust the operative position of the second crimping gear 55, i.e., the spacing of the gears 52 and 55, a set screw 82 secured by a lock nut 83 extends through the link 72 and engages the yoke 57.

In the event of a yarn buildup on the first crimping gear 52, the second gear is free to move against the action of the tension spring 70. Because of the location of the pivot pin 60 relative to the channel-shaped yoke 57, movement of the yoke will separate the crimping gears 52 and 55 but will not separate the spur gears 61 and 62. Thus, the crimping gears 52 and 55 separate and reunite without touching each other.

This structure has an additional advantage, in that the force necessary to separate the gears 52 and 55 decreases with displacement of the second gear 55 from its operative position. In other words, a heavy force (applied by a yarn buildup) is required to first move the gear 55, but only a slightly greater force is necessary to displace the gear 55 further. This provides for an easy manual separation of the gears 52 and 55 after a yarn buildup occurs, the accumulation of yarn being removed manually. This result is effected by the fact that the links '71 and 72 are close to longitudinal alignment with each other When the yoke 5'7 is in its operative position. I It is to be understood that the embodiment disclosed herein may be modified or amended and that numerous other embodiments canfbe contemplated without departing from the spirit and'scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

11. A device for crimping a tow, comprising a frame, a first crimping gear rotatably mounted on the frame, a yoke, a second crimping gear rotatably mounted on the yoke, said yoke being pivotally attached to the frame at a point adjacent to one end of the second gear so that movement or said yoke pivots said second gear toward the first gear, a first link pivotally attached to the yoke adjacent to the other end of said second gear, a second link pinned at the ends thereof to the frame and to the first link, and means connected between the frame and the links for urging the yoke toward the first gear.

Q. A device for crimping a tow, comprising .a frame, a first crimping gear rot-ata'bly mounted on the frame, a yoke, a second crimping gear rotatably mounted on the yoke, said yoke being pivotally attached to the frame at a point adjacent to one end of the second gear so that movement of said yoke pivots said second gear toward channel-shaped yoke pivotally mounted on the frame,

' said yoke being pivoted at a corner thereof to the frame,

the first gear, a first link pivotally attached to the yoke adjacent to the other end of said second gear, a second link pinned at the ends thereof to the frame and to the first link, a spring connected between the frame and the links for urging the yoke toward the first gear, and means "on the yoke for limiting movement of said yoke toward said first gear. V

3. A device for crimping a yarn, comprising a frame, a first crimping gear rotatably mounted on the frame, a

a second crimping gear rotatably mounted on the yoke for cooperation with the first gear to crimp a yarn passing therebetween, a pair of links connected in series between a point on the frame and .a point on the free end of the yoke, and means connected to the links for urging the yoke toward the first gear.

4. An apparatus for crimping a yarn, comprising a frame, a first shaft rotatably mounted on the frame, a first crimping gear secured to the shaft, a first driving gear secured to the first shaft, a yoke pivotally mounted on the frame at a point in the plane of the first driving gear, a second shaft mounted on the yoke, a second crimping gear mounted on the second shaft, a; second driving gear mounted on the second shaft and meshed with the firs-t driving gear, said yoke being pivoted at a point such that initial movement of the second driving gear from operative position is in a direction substantially parallel to the first shaft, a first link pinned at one end to the yoke, a second link pinned at one end to the frame and at its other end to the first link, as'pring connected between the links and the frame for urging said links to carry the second crimping gear toward the first crimping gear, and a set screw on the first link for limiting movement of said firs-t link relative to the yoke to thereby limit movement of the second crimping gear toward the first crimping gear.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,669,001 2/54- Keen 28-72 2,856,640 10/ 58 K-lein 19-66 DQNALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR CRIMPING A TOW, COMPRISING A FRAME, A FIRST CRIMPING GEAR MOUNTED ON THE FRAME, A YOKE, A SECOND CRIMPING GEAR ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE YOKE, SAID YOKE BEING PIVOTALLY ATTACHED TO THE FRAME AT A POINT ADJACENT TO ONE PIVOTS SAID SECOND GEAR SO THAT MOVEMENT OF SAID YOKE PIVOTS SAID SECOND GEAR TOWARD THE FIRST GEAR, A FIRST LINK PIVOTALLY ATTACHED TO THE YOKE ADJACENT TO THE OTHER END OF SAID SECOND GEAR, A SECOND LINK PINNED AT THE ENDS THEREOF TO THE FRAME AND TO THE 